Reviews by ebrauser:

Appearance: Black as oil, of course, with the thinnest brown head left over after a minute. Seemed like it was tinted with a touch of red?

Aroma: Bourbon! Hints of vanilla and chocolate somehow force their way in past the strong alcohols.

Flavor: Strong bourbon again, with more oak, vanilla, and cherry flavors coming out. Malt base isn't huge, and I don't think it balances too well. I will really look forward to opening my second one in another year or two to see how it handles! Hopefully the bourbon will mellow a bit, letting the flavors develop.

MF: The beer body doesn't really stand up to the strength of taste, and is a little watery.

More User Reviews:

Appearance  This came out a very dark, almost black stout with wonderful ruby highlights around the edges. The head was moderate and beautifully browned.

Smell  Oh, this is bourbon at its finest. We always have a couple good bottles of bourbon around the house, so when I popped the top on this we passed it around with a few bottles from Bourbon County, Kentucky. They really did hit the mark here.

The rest of the beer was just as pleasant. The malts were very dark but the sweetish whisky and sugars balanced things out nicely.

Taste  The malts were bigger at the taste. They were very crisp. The bourbon was smooth and satisfying. There was also most definitely a light sense of coconut.

Mouthfeel  This is medium-bodied and had a light stingy feel from the high ABV.

Drinkability  If you enjoy bourbon youll really like this RIP. If you dont, get over it and buy a bottle anyway.

Comments  Thanks to skyhand for not only strongly recommending this purchase but for talking me into cellaring this for six months before drinking. Dead right on both counts.

Black like it's supposed to be, it looks good. The smell is sweet, but it's Kentucky. Beer aroma analysis has also taught me about bourbon: this beer is aged in Kentucky (not Tennessee) bourbon barrels. It doesn't smell overly sweet, but it does smell like bourbon.

The taste is dark goodness with the flavor of good (but not great) bourbon. This can't be Perry Van Winkle! I'd even prefer Beam. Is it Kentucky Gentleman? The beer and the beer work well together, as it's a legitimate, big-boi RIS aged in bourbonized wood. It can't really compete with the southern (more local? better??) bourbon-aged brews, but it'd be too harsh to say it ain't good.

It seems to me that barrel-aging really thins the mouthfeel. Other than perhaps the BA Old Rasputins, I don't come across chewy bourbon beers. With craft brews what they are today, it's tough for me to rate this one higher than a coffee + infused RIS. Maybe that's unfair, but don't blame me...blame the game. ;^)

22 oz bottle. Pours an opaque dark brown with a very thin tan head that quickly dissipates to a thin collar.

The aroma is strong alcohol, some figs and creamy chocolate and a little bit of a sour tang. As t warms oakey vanilla dominates.

The flavor is strong bitter alcohol initially and a little bit of sour fruits. Some smoother chocolate malts and coffee and oakey vanilla and cherries come out later. The mouthfeel is smooth full and creamy.

Overall, a bit too much harsh alcohol for me (I'm not a big liquor fan), but it is pretty complex and interesting. It gets better the more I drink of it - smooth and well balanced.

Black with an off-white head, quickly recedes to a ring around the glass. Sweet bourbon and caramel aromas; bourbon is pretty dominant. Bourbon, vanilla, oak, and roastiness in the taste. Light body with a dry finish; higher end of carbonation. Thanks to cokebottle, or whatever his current name may be.

Thanks to someone for sharing this at the May Freetail bottle release.

The beer pours a dark brown to black color with a brown head. The aroma is heavy on the roasted malt with a lot of bourbon whiskey notes. I get some oak, as well as some alcohol and maple.

The flavor is more complex. In addition to the oak and bourbon notes, I get a lot of chocolate, brown sugar and a little bit of dark fruit. The roasted malt is also present but takes a back seat to the chocolate.

Thick mouthfeel and low to medium carbonation. A very nice barrel-aged beer.

Full Sail Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2013 release, 9.6% ABV) opens to a rich, smoky, complex, chocolaty, bourbon-laced aroma that is instantly appealing. Bourbon-soaked chocolate bon-bons are perhaps the closest confection in aroma, with their rich, thick milk chocolate and smoky vanilla bourbon notes, but add to that layers of coffee and ash, tobacco and heavy cream, as well as caramel and touches of molasses, and that served with a thick, heavily-toasted slice of rich yeasty brown bread, and you’re getting close. The beer is very nicely balanced, despite the enormity and variation in the aromas, each note playing well off the others. The sugars are especially nice, with fig, date raisin, and lychee fruit esters, lending a port-like quality to the aromas that meshes nicely with the bourbon. In fact, in a blind smelling test, this beer might easily be mistaken for port, especially after it has sat open for a few minutes and the initial heavy bourbon and ash shock has wafted away. As a whole, this smells fantastic.

On the tongue, the beer is very alcoholic, bourbon and port trouncing the tastebuds almost immediately, followed by chocolate liqueur candies, the stout tasting very much like a cognac-filled chocolate treat. Late in the mouthful a few measures of ash and tobacco come through, as well as dollops of brown bread, but it’s mainly the chocolate liqueur candy that dominates, being fairly sweet and containing heavy alcohol vapors. The mouthfeel is, however, strangely light, a watery medium-light at best, making the beer seem like the bourbon barrel aging is responsible for much of the taste in here, and that without it, the stout would only be semi-decent. Aftertaste is ash and tobacco, with lingering sugars and bourbon.

Overall, while the aromas in here were fantastic, the beer didn’t quite live up to its initial promises, and the heavy reliance on bourbon barrel notes ends up making the underlying stout seem weak and watery.

A- This beer pours a jet black body with a sticky bubbly tan head that fades to a sheet after a bit. There are a few microbubbles that can be seen through the dense body of this beer.

S- The dark sweet malt aroma has notes of raisins and graphite with fresh sweet oak and a slight vanilla note to it coming through. There is a peaty bourbon note that comes through as the beer warms a bit. The notes of sesame seeds becomes part of the malt aroma and Kleenex tissue becomes part of the oak aroma as the beer warms.

T- The black sweetness has some sweet oaky flavors to follow with prune and dried fruit flavors underneath. There is a soft roasted flavor without any bitterness in the finish that turns inky as the beer warms. There is a soft alcohol flavor that combines with it but is not fusel.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with a slightly slippery texture and a very mild alcohol warmth on the exhale.

D- This is a big smooth great sipping beer that is not really heavy and doesn't have much bitterness to balance the sweeter flavors, but that is ok as the inky flavors come through and the malt isn't overly sweet in itself. This beer starts of with big complex flavors but as the beer warms the flavors and aromas tend to get a bit washed out.

Appearance- One finger of mochaccino (yeah, I said it) head rises to the top of my Duvel tulip and recedes to a creamy film atop this pitch black monster. There are only a few spatterings of lacing. Body=great, head and lacing=meh.

Taste- Am I crazy or does this taste quite a bit like Cherry Adam from the Wood? I think the reason I'm getting that is the tannins running wild through the rest of the flavors. There are some beautiful bourbon flavors of oak, vanilla, and caramel coming through, but the fruits are more sharp than sweet. Some bitter baker's chocolate is mingling, as well. This needs time to come together.

MF- Full bodied on the lowest end of medium carbonation. The full body doesn't hold up to it's competition, however. I actually think their imperial porter has a fuller body. It's still quite pleasing on the tongue except for those damn tannins clinging where they don't belong. The heat isn't much of a problem for me, but I'm starting to become numb to it after all of these big beers this winter.

Drinkability- It goes down very easy considering the abv, tastes good, but a bomber is enough for me. Time will definitely improve the flavor, but I'm still quite disappointed with this beer. It's a good beer for the style, but I think their Top Sail Imperial Porter is better in every way, and almost more of an Imperial Stout than this is. I'm not an Abyss whore like a lot of people, but when I drop over $10 on an impy stout that's brewed in OR, there are certain expectations, and this didn't live up to them.

A: Pours nearly pitch black with basically no light. Nice sized head with some retention and decent lacing.

S: Plenty of chocolate, vanilla, coconut, and a bunch of hefty alcohol. Some dark fruits in the back and more as it warms, definitely some grapey flavor and maybe some black currants.

T/M: Very nice flavor complexity. Same as the nose with enhanced coconut and great alcohol. Alcohol is great, very hot but very enjoyable. The wood comes through even past the bourbon and adds so much depth. Body is medium to medium full and extremely smooth.

D: It's pretty damn hot but very tasty. Right now the drinkability isn't so great but it'll age beautifully.